1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to human resource management software, and more particularly, to a system and method for maintaining data in a personnel directory.
2. Background of the Invention
Large organizations, such as government agencies and major corporations, depend on electronic personnel directories to keep their members in contact with each other. Because these organizations frequently consist of multiple departments spread across wide geographic regions, members of these organizations cannot possibly be acquainted with all of the other members. Nonetheless, to accomplish certain tasks, members must be able to identify and contact other people within the organization. The personnel directory makes this exercise possible.
In a typical personnel directory, a user locates an entry by either browsing through an alphabetical list of names or by entering a name (or perhaps the first few letters of the name) in a search engine. Some personnel directories also enable a user to search using other criteria, such as telephone number, department, or organizational position. After locating the entry of a desired member of the organization, a user can retrieve contact information associated with the member, such as telephone number, e-mail address, room number, organizational position, and home address. With this contact information, the user can then reach the desired person.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an electronic personnel directory known as COMPANY DIRECTORY™, which is sold by the Ascentis Corporation of Bellevue, Wash. As shown in FIG. 1, COMPANY DIRECTORY™ provides a list 100 of personnel within an organization, and allows a user to search the list using a drop-down menu 102 of possible search criteria. After searching or browsing through the personnel list, and clicking through a personnel entry, COMPANY DIRECTORY™ displays contact information and other data associated with the individual, as shown in FIG. 2. In this example, the contact information and other data include name 200, nick name 202, job title 204, work telephone number 206, e-mail address 208, employee identification 210, department 212, division 214, location 216, and a chart 218 showing the person's role within the organization.
Because the information in the personnel directory is only useful if it is accurate, conventional personnel directories also facilitate the maintenance of the information, to ensure that the data remains up-to-date. In the case of COMPANY DIRECTORY™, the database of personnel information is linked to human resource databases (e.g., payroll systems), so that when a human resource administrator adds employees, terminates employees, or updates employee information in the human resource database, the changes automatically synchronize with the personnel directory.
Personnel directories also permit administrators to revise the personnel entries directly. The personnel directories provide edit functions that enable a directory administrator to edit, delete, and add entries. For example, if a member of the organization changes his or her work location, then the directory administrator can change the member's telephone number and room number. If a member changes her name, for example, because of a marriage, then the directory administrator can change the member's name in the directory. As another example, if a member leaves the organization because of a resignation or retirement, then the directory administrator can simply delete the member's entry from the personnel directory.
Unfortunately, in focusing on up-to-date information, conventional personnel directories ignore the need for historical data. Indeed, by overwriting and deleting outdated information, these personnel directories prevent a user from identifying important relationships between current and old data. This limitation is especially troublesome because, in practice, an organization cannot update all of its records (electronic and paper) at the same time. Thus, paper documents and databases other than the personnel directory may refer to personnel that no longer exist in the personnel directory.
As a hypothetical example, consider a project that was completed several years ago by two employees of ABC Company. The electronic and paper documents associated with the project cite the names of these two employees: Bonnie Smith and Clyde Miller. Now, several years after the project, Amy, another employee from a different department of ABC Company, needs to contact Bonnie and Clyde to ascertain information about the project. Amy may, for example, want to learn about the vendors that Bonnie and Clyde used in completing the project. Since the completion of the project, however, Bonnie's last name has changed from Smith to Jones, because of her marriage. In addition, Clyde no longer works for ABC Company. But, because ABC Company is a large organization and Amy does not personally know Bonnie or Clyde, Amy does not know of these important facts.
To locate Bonnie, Amy consults the personnel directory of the ABC Company. Amy reads the project documentation and enters into the directory search engine the surname for Bonnie that is listed in the documentation, i.e., Smith. Unfortunately, because Bonnie's last name has been changed from Smith to Jones in the personnel directory, the directory returns no matches. Consequently, Amy not only lacks a means for determining how to contact Bonnie Smith, but also lacks an explanation as to why Bonnie Smith no longer appears in the personnel directory.
To locate Clyde, Amy again reads the project documentation and enters into the directory search engine the name that is listed in the documentation, i.e., Clyde Miller. This time, because Clyde left ABC Company and was deleted from the personnel directory, the directory again returns no matches. Consequently, Amy does not have contact information for Clyde, or an explanation as to why Clyde no longer appears in the personnel directory. Furthermore, Amy has no means of identifying alternate employees who may have knowledge of the project, but were not listed in the original project documentation.
Thus, there remains a need for a personnel directory that enables a user to identify relationships between current and historical data.